The snow dances are becoming more frantic by the day in Central Oregon.

While the base at Mt. Bachelor is holding steady at just 26 inches, other ski areas in the region are still mostly devoid of snow.

The nordic trails at Virginia Meissner Sno-park west of Bend are virtually unskiable, marked by long stretches of bare dirt. Hoodoo Ski Area has yet to open, as the snowpack at the resort near Sisters was only 7½ inches as of Thursday.

In fact, only three of the 13 ski resorts across Oregon are currently open: Bachelor, Mount Hood Meadows, and Timberline.

Here in Central Oregon, many sporting events set for Hoodoo or Meissner this month are at risk of being canceled or postponed.

An Oregon High School Nordic (OHSNO) race originally scheduled for Meissner this Saturday has been moved to Mt. Bachelor. Other events scheduled for Meissner that are at risk include the sno-park’s Learn to Ski day (Jan. 11) and the first event of the Bend Endurance Academy’s weekly Time Trial Series (Jan. 21).

According to Bob Madden, the trails coordinator for Meissner, most of the lower trails at the sno-park are completely bare.

“Until we get more snow we’re just not going to be able to do anything at Meissner, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed and praying for more snow,” Madden says. “We’re anxious to get our new Sno-Cat out (for grooming).”

Meissner typically opens by about Dec. 1 for nordic skiing. The sno-park was able to hold its grand-opening celebration after an early-December snowstorm, but it just was not enough snow to develop a solid base.

“We’ve had rough patches before where we get into these (warm, dry) cycles, but usually there’s snow beforehand and we’re able to kind of maintain it,” says Shawn McFadden, operations manager for Meissner. “This year we never really built a base up. We’re basically starting from scratch. If this was the first of December we’d be freaking out, but we’re another month down the road.”

So now they are REALLY freaking out.

McFadden adds that just two or three nights of 6 inches of snow per night would likely be enough to get the cross-country ski season started at Meissner.

“I’ve never seen it this low — it’s crazy,” says Summit High School nordic coach Ambrose Su.

The Summit skiers typically split their training time between Meissner and Mt. Bachelor, but this season the skiers have spent all their practice time at Bachelor.

“It’s holding up really well, actually,” Su says of the snow on the Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center trails.

Other high school nordic and alpine ski teams that typically train at Hoodoo, including Sisters and Redmond/Ridgeview, have been forced to make the longer drive to Bachelor for training.

Bachelor’s base is located at 5,700 feet in elevation, while Hoodoo’s base sits at 4,668 feet. Meissner is located at 5,350 feet.

Despite the paltry snowpack, the Great Harvest New Year’s Day Relay was staged without a hitch on Wednesday at the Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center. And skiers with the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation have enjoyed reasonably good training conditions, according to Molly Cogswell-Kelley, events director for MBSEF.

“It hasn’t really had any effect on us,” Cogswell-Kelley says of the thin snowpack. “We are training just as much, maybe more, because it’s fast and it hasn’t been stormy. The conditions have been really good, and it hasn’t stopped us at all. We’ve had really good participation in our races.”

At Hoodoo, the start of Friday night City League racing for this season has been pushed back one week, now tentatively scheduled to begin on Jan. 17. Also in jeopardy is Hoodoo’s Jan. 11 BC Fest, billed as the largest free-heeled skiing event on the West Coast.

Hoodoo was forced to cancel its popular annual New Year’s Eve celebration.

Matthew McFarland, manager at Hoodoo, says the resort needs about 30 to 36 inches of snow to start grooming in preparation of opening.

“We’re just really beholden to Mother Nature, and we have to schedule around that,” McFarland says. “Nothing is really solid and concrete until snow is on the ground. There’s some storms (forecast for) early next week; we’re just hoping we get a lot of snow out of it. We need two or three good feet of snow. We don’t care if it’s one storm or two, as long as it’s soon.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com.